On a sunny Friday afternoon in Wellston, Missouri, a guy went to the grocery store, open carrying a rifle "in a sleeve underneath his shirt," according to local NBC affiliate KSDK. It's not clear what he's shopping for that he might need to be carrying such firearm, but on his way out of the store, he was stopped by another guy with a gun — who robbed the first guy of his gun.
So the Guy With A Gun #1 gives up his gun to Guy With A Gun #2. Then Guy #1 bolts over to his car, pulls out another gun, and starts blasting at Guy #2 — AKA, the robber, who now has two guns. This swiftly devolved into a shootout, during which two woman who were casually going to the grocery store without guns ended up getting shot (though fortunately, their injuries were not life-sustaining). It's not clear who was responsible for these injuries — whether it was Guy #1, now with a new gun, or Guy #2, with his two guns.
Guy #1 did allegedly manage to hit Guy #2 a few times … then fled the scene, without even taking back the rifle that he'd been open-carrying before being, which had him a target of Guy #2's robbery.
After Guy #1 left, another guy with a gun showed up — let's call him Guy #3. So Guy #3 walks over and shoots Guy #2, who's already lying on the ground with several gun wounds. Then Guy #3 leaves, too. KSDK notes that it was "unclear if the three men know each other."
As of this writing, Guy #2 is in critical condition at the hospital. No arrests have been made.
This story will almost certainly be upheld by gun enthusiasts as an example of why everyone should be carrying multiple guns at all times. However, I'd argue that a lot of trouble could have been avoided — including two innocent people getting injured, and probably also the entire robbery-shootout fiasco itself — if Guy #1 wasn't open-carrying a rifle at the grocery store in the first place. The presence of a gun made this situation worse at every turn.
Suspect, 2 bystanders injured in shootout outside St. Louis County grocery store [Anne Stegen and Robert Townsend / KSDK]
